The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-07-29

against the queen will shoot tho first man
who tries TO lay finger on mep and b. rooo
10 bis test and lifted bis rife
s6hall shoot him, baasNshall shoot
himl~ asked the one eyed Hendrix, smacking
~ lipa at the thought. and adding with the
run(y lock Of the old fowling pisce be carried
Muller, by way Of answer, struck him
acrou the face With tho back Of his hand.
1Hans Costsss," be said, go and arrest that
man. aU s
Poor Hans hesitated, a. we'll he might
Nature bad not endowed him with any great
amount Of natural courage, and the sight OF
his old neighbours rifle barrel made him feel
positively sick. He hesitated and began. to
stammcr excuses.
"Are you going, uncle, or must denounce
you to the general an a sympathixer with
Englishmen" asked Muller, in malice, for hi
knew the old fellows weaknesses and COW.
ardice, and was playing on them.
~ am going. OF course / am going,
nephew Excuse me; little faintness took
me-the heat of the sum-" lie babbled. "Oh.
yes, ! am going to seize the rebel Perhaps
one Of those young men would not mind en-
gaging his attention on the other side He is
an angry mani know him Of old-and an
angry man with gun, you know, dear
nephew
fare you goingr said his terrible master
once more.
"Oh, yes! certainly yes. Dear Uncle Silas,
pray put down that gun, it Is 10 dangerous
Don't stand there looking like wild OK, but
come up to the yoke. You are old, Uncle
Silas, and don't want to have to hurt you.
Come now, come, come" and he held out his
hand toward him as though he were shy
horse that he was endeavoring to beguile.
"Hans Coetzee, traitor and liar that you
are," said the old man, "if you come step
nearer. by Godl will put bullet through
you'll" .,5.
"Go on, Hans; chuck REIN over his head /;
get him by the tail; knock him down with q
yokeskei turn the old bull on his back"
shouted the crowd Of scoffers from the win.
dow, taking very good care, however. to clear
off to the right and left in order to leave room
for the expected bullet.
Hans positively burst into tears, and Null.
Ter, who was the only one who held his
ground, caught him by the arm, and, put
ting out oil his strength, swung him toward
6ilas Croft
For reasons of bis own he was anxious that
the latter should shoot one Of them. and he
CuOSo I1dIlb OOeUze0, WuOAu ue uISllkeu duo
despised, for the sacrifice. N'
Up went the rife, and at that moment Bes-
sic, who had been standing bewildered, made
dash ct it, knowing that bloodshed could
only make matters worse As she did SO it
exploded, but not before she had shaken her
uncle's arm, for instead Of killing Hans, as it
undoubtedly would otherwise have done, the
bullet only cut his ear and then passed out
through the open window place. In an in
slant the room was filled with smoke. Hans
Coetzee clapped his hand to his head, and
commenced to yell with pain and terror, and
in the confusion that ensued three or four
men, headed by the Kaffir Hendrix, rushed
into the room and sprang upon Silas Croft,
who had retreated to the wall and was stand
ing with his back against it, his rifle, which
he had dubbed in both his hands, raised
above his head.
When his assailants got close to him they
hestated, for, aged and bent as he was, the
old man looked like mischief. Hcstood there
like lion and swung the rife stock about
Presently one Of the men struck at him and
missed him, but before he could retreat Silas
brought down the stock Of his rife on his
head and down he went like an OK beneath
poleax. Then they closed on him, but for
a while he kept them of, knocking down an
other man in his efforta As he did SO the
witch doctor, Hendrix, who had been watch
ing for his opportunity, brought down the
barrel of his old fowling piece upon Hves'
bald head an6 felled him Fortunately The
blow was not very heavy one or it would
have caved his skull in. As it was it only
cut his head open and knocked him down.